People v. Robles

1

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. BLAKE ADAM ROBLES, Defendant and Appellant.

A166570

California Court of Appeals, First District, Second Division

July 29, 2024

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

Napa County Super. Ct. No. 21CR002631

STEWART, P.J.

Blake Adam Robles appeals from convictions of resisting an executive officer and battery upon an officer arising from an incident in which he closed the door of his residence on the hand of the officer. He contends there was insufficient evidence that the officer was acting in lawful performance of his duties; the trial court gave erroneous jury instructions on this issue; the trial court abused its discretion in admitting evidence of prior uncharged acts; the trial court abused its discretion in denying a request for pretrial mental health diversion; and post-trial amendments to the mental health diversion statute require that the case be remanded for reconsideration of the issue under current law. We find no merit in his claims and affirm the judgment.

BACKGROUND

I. Factual Background

A. Prosecution's Case

1. The December 7, 2021 Offenses

In December 2021, Robles was staying with Celeste Palco, who lived in a duplex located behind Holly LaPorta's house. On the afternoon of December 7, after arriving home at about 3:30 p.m., LaPorta heard a man yelling outside her house. She went out to look and saw Robles screaming at a white car in the alley that leads from her house to the duplex behind it. Robles was speaking to the driver of the white car and seemed very agitated and upset, while Palco seemed to be trying to calm the situation down. The white car sped off "pretty quickly."

LaPorta told Robles to stop screaming and he yelled at her, using "colorful language" including" 'get back in your house, you fucking bitch.'" Palco continued trying to get Robles to calm down and he yelled at her taking a "threatening stance" with his "chest up against hers" and yelling in an "extremely angry" manner. LaPorta was concerned for Palco's safety and her own. She again asked Robles to stop yelling and he took a few steps toward her, yelling," 'Shut the fuck up, you cunt. Get back in your house.' "

LaPorta went inside and called 911. She told the dispatcher there was a man in her alley screaming at her and her neighbor and she did not feel comfortable. Before the police arrived, LaPorta heard the door to Palco's unit slam. Officer Adam Barrera responded and La Porta explained her concerns and directed him to the back unit. She could not see Palco's door from inside her house, but she could hear the officer "giving . . . commands" in a "calm and direct" tone.

Officer Barrera testified that he was dispatched at about 4:13 p.m in response to a call from a neighbor saying that "a man was yelling at a woman" and that "the neighbor . was concerned for her safety." Barrera responded in full uniform and driving a marked patrol car. LaPorta, who was outside when he arrived, told him that she saw Robles "screaming violently in her neighbor's face" and when LaPorta told him to be quiet he responded," 'Go inside, you fucking cunt.'" LaPorta felt unsafe and said she was scared for her well-being and for her neighbor.

Barrera testified that at this point his main concern was to speak with both parties and make sure no one was hurt. He testified, "A lot of times, it's just an argument, it's not a big deal, but, unfortunately, with domestic disputes, we have to go the extra mile to make sure that both parties are safe and there's no abuse or anything like that going on." He explained that the initial report was a disturbance of the peace, but based on what LaPorta told him about "screaming violently in her face, you start to think about-you start to expand to think that maybe there's a domestic violence situation going on." Barrera had training in domestic violence, which he testified can range from disturbance of the peace to homicide. He decided to contact Palco "to make sure that she was okay and that there was nothing else going on."

Barrera rang the doorbell of Palco's unit and she opened the front door partway. Barrera noticed that her eyes were "red and teary-eyed like she had been crying" and it appeared she might be upset. He told her he wanted to talk to her and Robles "just to figure out what was going on." Because he could not see Robles but could hear him "yelling in the background," Barrera asked for Robles to come out. Barrera testified that "it's policy that when you deal with domestic violence situations that you speak with both parties separate. It's very common for a person that's potentially being the victim of domestic abuse to not want to talk to police if that abuser is nearby. [¶] So, initially, my goal was to have [Robles] come out, separate them, let me talk to them to figure out what's going on so I can, you know, determine if something is going on, or, you know, tell them to calm down the argument." Barrera knew Robles from prior calls and was referring to him by his first name in an attempt to "deescalate the situation and kind of be a little more familiar and friendly."

At some point, Robles came into Barrera's view and Barrera called out, asking him to" 'come chat.'" Robles's demeanor was aggressive. He stood beside Palco with his hands in his pockets and, when Barrera told him to take his hands out, Robles yelled" 'Eff you,' or something like that. [¶] 'I'm in my house.'" Seeing that Robles and Palco were not going to talk with him and Robles was agitated, Barrera requested backup. Trying to keep things from escalating, he told Robles and Palco he was just trying to talk to them and said "something to the effect of, 'Hey, man. This is going to amp up more than we want it to.'" Barrera suspected there might be a "domestic violence situation or possibility of it" and was concerned about Palco's well-being.

Barrera, who was standing outside the door, asked Palco to come outside. Robles stepped away, out of Barrera's sight. As Barrera "negotiat[ed]" with Palco, trying to get her to come outside, she "kept looking towards wherever [Robles] was inside, or she was looking towards the inside of the building." "[A]ll of a sudden, [Robles] comes back into frame and he starts to shut the door." Barrera reached out with his right foot and hand to "grab the door"; his foot missed and his hand "[caught] the door to keep the door open."

Barrera testified that his objective was to make sure he did not lose sight of Palco and lose "access to make sure she was okay." He explained:

"So because at this point I'm now-you know, investigating a domestic-type situation, her safety is paramount. Making sure that she-I had access to her to make sure that, hey, I can ask her if she's okay. [¶] Because, essentially, when I was talking to her, she was-she gave me no answer. She kept looking towards Blake before saying anything, and then saying 'I'm fine.' [¶] So, at that point, I could tell that by her body language, the fact that she was crying, there was more going on. You know, in my mind, I have to make sure she's safe, and if the door closes and locks, I still have an obligation to make sure she's safe. But if the door closes and locks, we have a whole different situation where we-if she needs help, we can't give it to her without more tactical disadvantage or, you know, we don't know if he has weapons inside. I had to make sure that I got to her to keep her potentially safe."

Robles slammed the door. Barrera's right hand was "from the outside at the door jam[b]," holding onto the door. He used his other hand to upgrade his call for cover because his hand was getting "smashed in the door," the situation was escalating and he was going to need additional officers "to help both separate the parties and figure out what was going on." Barrera felt consistent pressure on his hand for several seconds but also felt several stronger pushes on the door. He could hear Palco asking Robles to stop and Robles yelling, and a recording from Barrera's body camera documents Robles saying, "You're putting your hand [¶] . . . [¶] and preventing me [¶] . . . [¶] from closing my door. [¶] . . . [¶] Why are you stopping me from [¶] . . . [¶] closing my door." Barrera then heard Palco say she would come outside, the door opened and she came outside.

As Barrera tried to walk Palco out, Robles came out and stood at the door landing. Barrera told him to go inside, and Robles said," 'No. You told me to come outside[,]'" and "[s]ome curse words." Robles's demeanor was "aggressive"; he was cursing at Barrera, repeatedly saying Barrera was going to shoot him and said he "hoped [Barrera] died." Barrera tried to walk Palco further away from the unit both for officer safety and, because Robles was following them, to separate her from Robles so he could talk to her. As Barrera tried to talk with Palco, Robles yelled, "You better get in the fucking house." At this point, another officer arrived and, Barrera testified, "we were going to address [Robles] and detain him." Robles was arrested outside the house for resisting arrest. Barrera had a small laceration on the top of his knuckle and his hand was sore for a few days.

Barrera acknowledged on cross examination that he saw no injuries on Palco and Palco did not ask for his help, said she was "good" and was "just sitting and talking with" Robles, and did not want to talk to Barrera. When Robles reached in his pockets, Barrera put his hand on his gun but did not draw it. Barrera acknowledged that he was the alleged victim in the case. He disagreed with defense counsel's suggestion that there was "no emergency for you to enter the house," stating, "I would describe a potential domestic assault as an emergency."

Christine Brumback testified that...